Recta Ratio

Odd, if she wants to run for president in 2012. Everyone knows that an incumbent governor has more fundraising clout than a former governor.

Oh well. I still like Bobby Jindal, but he is going to have to get his act together as a public performer.

Labels: Any Serious Catholic Who Isn't A Very Conservative Republican...

A great cause for rejoicing.

Labels: Our Saintly Brethern

ACT OF CONSECRATION
By St. Francis de Sales

MOST Holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God, I (full name), most unworthy though I am to be thy servant, yet touched by thy motherly care for me and longing to serve thee, do, in the presence of my Guardian Angel and all the court of Heaven, choose thee this day to be my queen, my advocate, and my mother, and I firmly purpose to serve thee evermore myself and to do what I can that all may render faithful service to thee.

Therefore, most devoted Mother, through the Precious Blood thy Son poured out for me, I beg thee and beseech thee, deign to take me among thy clients and receive me as thy servant forever.

Aid me in my every action, and beg for me the grace never, by word or deed or thought, to be displeasing in thy sight and that of thy most holy Son.

Think of me, my dearest Mother, and desert me not at the hour of death. Amen.

This prayer once carried an Indulgence of 300 days, for each recitation.----Pius X, Nov. 17, 1906.

Labels: Our Blessed Lady

Ok, it's not the same as the real thing. But I'm a July baby, and I love my fireworks.

Nothing could be more American than watching fireworks on July 4th. Yet, for many in remote areas, this is not practical. Your town may not be putting on a display this year because of budget constraints. Or you might not be able to get to the nearest fireworks display.

It is a tradition here at Recta Ratio to link to virtual fireworks displays you can enjoy in the comfort of your own study. So turn off the lights, crank up the volume on your speakers, plug some John Phillips Sousa, some Handel Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, and some Williamsburg Corps of Fifes and Drums into the CD player, pour yourself some wine, and put some more mustard on that hot dog!

I always link to Hogpainter's fireworks display. For the record, I just last year figured out that this is a guy who paints motorcycles. So "hogs" are motorcycles. Live and learn.

And try this one.
But you activate it by left-clicking the mouse within the field.

I like this one, too.

This one allows you to watch fireworks over the White House and over New York City, or at a carnival or baseball game.

This one over New York Harbor reminds me of the one 20 years ago (can it be that long?) when the Statue of Liberty was newly rehabbed and President Reagan came for the show and watched from the deck of USS Iowa.

Happy Independence Day!

Labels: American Patriotism Is Not A Sin

For those men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd, 1776, the odds did not look very good. Public opinion polls, if they existed, probably would have told them that only one-third of the population favored the course upon which they were about to embark. One-third was indifferent. One-third opposed independence. The men gathered from the thirteen colonies in Philadelphia, even without polling, probably had a sense that this was the case. After all, recruitment for the Continental Army was disappointing, and there had already been more than one pro-British uprising by loyalists.

The army which would be the primary instrument of winning independence was scarcely disciplined, poorly uniformed, badly armed, and ill-supplied with food and ammunition. Pay was a promise (which, in fact, was mostly ignored 7 years later). Its generals had no experience commanding larger bodies of troops than a battalion. Many found themselves commanding troops just because of political influence in their colonies.

True, there had been some victories. Boston had been rendered untenable for the enemy, and he had evacuated it. Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to a surprise attack, and supplied the heavy artillery that had led the British to evacuate Boston. Montreal had been captured, though that invasion force had been stopped at Quebec, and even now, after being rolled back within the boundaries of New York, was building an anti-invasion fleet on Lake Champlain. The delegates in Philadelphia probably did not know it, but an enemy invasion of Charleston, SC had been averted a few days before.

But there had also been defeats. Despite inflicting heavy losses on the enemy, Bunker Hill had been captured. The attempt to capture Canada had failed miserably.

Most significant was what was coming. As the delegates debated independence, they knew that the British army that had left Boston was en route from Halifax, probably heading for New York. If their spies were accurate, that army would rendezvous with another escorted by an even larger fleet. And those troops who had failed to capture charleston were also heading to New York with a large fleet. Large numbers of British and German troops had driven the American Northern Army from Canada, and were poised to drive down Lake Champlain.

These troops who would confront their own tattered, inexperienced army were the best Europe could field. British troops who had conquered an empire just 15 years before would be joined by excellent troops from Brunswick and Hesse Cassel, Frederick the Great's best allies. The enemy was supported by professional artillerists, and by a navy that was (despite peacetime decline and corruption) still, ship-for-ship, the best in the world. Thousands of their fellow countrymen would be happy to take up arms alongside the British army. To make matters worse, the Indian nations were ready to take up arms on behalf of the King, raising the prospect of burned farms, scalped settlers, and women and children abducted into captivity among the savages.

The men in Philadelphia must have found the prospect of declaring independence a daunting task. In the next three months, the most likely outcome was that the British army would take New York, flatten their own army, and then march on Philadelphia to hang them for treason. Their property would be taken from their families. At best they would become fugitives constantly on the run from British authorities.

But the best of them had a vision for the future, and strong reasons to feel the need to break with the past. The vision was that they would govern themselves, as they actually had for the most part, until the Imperial government decided to tap America for revenue to pay for keeping the peace with the Indians. John Winthrop's vision of a city set upon a hill remained a strong one, and merged with Locke's ideas about government, and newer ideas coming from Adam Smith about how an economy ought to be allowed to develop. A unified vision of a new nation which would serve as a beacon of liberty for all nations emerged, and was in the forefront of the minds of the men in Philadelphia. They had in this synthesis of ideas and in adapting to conditions on the American frontier, become a new nationality in need of a new nation.

And yet, despite all the obstacles, it was the vision that prevailed, and not the balance of forces. It is that vision that we celebrate today. John Adams, who did more than anyone to push the cause of independence through Congress, wrote to his wife that July 2, 1776 (the day the Declaration was approved):

"...Will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverence by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

May it always be so!

First reading of the Declaration of Independence at Boston's Old State House

Labels: American Patriotism Is Not A Sin

I have a new particular reason to venerate Saint Thomas. I just discovered that he is the patron saint of blind people. And while I have not been officially diagnosed as legally blind, it is only because I haven't been examined in years. I am pretty well-convinced that, when I am, I will be.

Note, this is only his feast in the new calendar. His feast is in December, just before Christmas, in the traditional ordo. But when a saint I particularly venerate has different feast days in the two ordos, I tend to remember him or her on both, with more particular notice on the traditional date.

O GOD, all hearts are in Thy Hands. Thou canst bend, as it pleases Thee, the most stubborn, and soften the most obdurate. I beseech Thee by the Holy Name, the Precious Blood, the Merits, Wounds and Divine Heart of Jesus, Thy Beloved Son, to grant the conversion we ask.
Amen.

Labels: Friday At the Foot Of the Cross

Novus Ordoians observed the Visitation some time ago. But for those of us who follow the traditional Ordo, July 2nd is always the Feast of the Visitation.



My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit rejoiceth in God my Savior.
For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty hath done great things for me, and holy is His Name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He hath shown strength with His arm:
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts.
He hath pulled down the mighty from their thrones,
And hath exalted those of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
And the rich He has sent, empty, away.
He hath helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to His posterity, forever.

Labels: Our Blessed Lady

In the traditional mode of the Latin Rite, the Feast of the Most Precious Blood is July 1st.

Litany of the Most Precious Blood
V/ Lord, have mercy.
R/ Lord, have mercy.

V/ Christ, have mercy.
R/ Christ, have mercy.

V/ Lord, have mercy.
R/ Lord, have mercy.

V/ Jesus, hear us.
R/ Jesus, graciously hear us.

V/ God, the Father of Heaven,
R/ have mercy on us.

V/ God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
R/ have mercy on us.

V/ God, the Holy Ghost,
R/ have mercy on us.

V/ Holy Trinity, One God,
R/ have mercy on us.

R/ for ff: save us.

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father,
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in Thy Agony,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in Thy Scourging,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in Thy Crowning with Thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world.
R/ spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R/ graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R/ have mercy on us.

Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
R/ And made us, for our God, a kingdom.

Let us pray:
Almighty and eternal God, Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by His Blood. Grant we beseech Thee, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord.
R/ Amen.

Labels: Our Lord

July 4th Fireworks on the Esplanade in 2008

Important feasts celebrated during July include:

July 1st The Most Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ
July 2nd Traditional date for the Visitation
July 3rd St. Thomas, whose feast was formerly in December
July 4th Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati
July 6th St. Maria Goretti
July 9th Martyrs of Gorkum and Bl. Rose Hawthorne Lathrop
July 11th St. Benedict
July 16th Our Lady of Mount Carmel
July 17th Carmelite Martyrs of Compiegne
July 22nd St. Mary Magdalene
July 24th St. Thomas a Kempis
July 25th St. James the Greater
July 26th SS. Anne and Joachim
July 29th St. Martha
July 31st St. Ignatius of Loyola

The monthly dedication for July is to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

July is entirely part of the season after Pentecost. There are no embertides in July.

The published prayer intentions of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for the month of July, 2009 are:

General:
That the Christians of the Middle East may live their faith in full freedom and be an instrument of peace and reconciliation.

Mission:
That the Church may be the seed and nucleus of a humanity reconciled and reunited in God's one and only family, thanks to the testimony of all the faithful in every country in the world.

Labels: First Of the Month Almanac

The Holy Father has dedicated the year June 28th, 2008 to June 29th, 2009 to Saint Paul.

You can pray the traditional Office for this feast here.

Oremus.
Deus, qui hodiérnam diem Apostolórum tuórum Petri et Pauli martyrio consecrásti : da Ecclésiæ tuæ, eórum in ómnibus sequi præcéptum; per quos religiónis sumpsit exordium.

Let us pray.
O God, who didst hallow this day by the martyrdom of thine holy Apostles Peter and Paul, grant unto thy Church, whose foundations thou wast pleased to lay by their hands, the grace always in all things to remain faithful to their teaching.

Labels: Our Saintly Brethern